Katherine awakened slowly to the sounds of an unfamiliar piano concerto drifting
down from the apartment overhead. On a normal day, she would have lain there and
enjoyed its beauty. But today was not a normal day. Her head and eyes were throbbing
unmercifully, unpleasant reminders of the evening before. She got up slowly and
padded into the bathroom.

"Some coffee and a bottle of aspirin ought to do it," Katherine mumbled to
herself as she stepped into the cold shower.

'Maybe with a dash of arsenic,' her alter ego suggested grimly.

She stepped out of the shower, wrapped herself in a large bath towel, and headed
out to the kitchen. The ringing of the telephone jarred her already jangled nerves.
She looked at the caller i.d.

'Shit,' Katherine thought as she picked up the phone. "Good morning, mother,"
she said as sweetly as possible as she answered.

"Katherine," her mother began in her nasal New England tone. "I've been trying
to reach you since 10 last evening. I left several messages. Why haven't you called
me back?"

"Damn it, mother, I just got up. I haven't even had a chance to check my messages,"
Katherine replied in an aggravated tone.

"Katherine Louise, don't use that language or that tone with me. You know I
hate that! It's unbecoming," her mother scolded. "You know I wouldn't bother you
if it weren't important.

By the way, where were you, dear?" her mother continued, sweetening her tone.

"You don't want to know, mother," Katherine grimaced.

"Darling, I always want to know," her mother laughed. "You sound a bit the
worse for the wear. Have you been working too hard?"

'You should only know,' Katherine thought as she responded. "Probably. I'm
in the middle of a good story that just won't leave me alone. You know how I get
when I'm working. If I didn't turn off the outside world, I'd never get anything
done. Now what's so important, mother?"

"Well, darling, I need a very big favor."

"Yes?" Katherine sighed, drawing the word out.

"Is that a 'yes' I'll do it or a 'yes' you're aggravating me yes?" Her mother
asked.

"I don't even know what you want me to do. For God's sake, mother, spit it
out!"

"Well, darling, Mavis is sick as a dog with that flu bug that's got everyone."

Her mother hesitated.

"And?"

"And, she was supposed to cover that concert at the Peace Center Saturday evening.
You know, the one with that new artist, what's the name - oh, yes, Vilensky -
who is taking the concert world by storm. Be a dear and cover it for us. Anybody
who is anybody will be there, darling. You can renew old acquaintances. You might
even meet somebody interesting. God knows, you need to put some spice in your
life. I worry about you closeted in that apartment all the time."

Katherine groaned inwardly. Her mother was publisher of the largest newspaper
in the state. Katherine grew up on printer's ink and was writing articles for
the paper before she was barely out of her teens. By the time she had her coming
out party (and there is no pun intended here), she had her own byline in the society
section. After two years of writing fluff pieces about Mr. and Mrs. so and so
and their lovely daughter, Muffy, she had had enough. A generous trust fund from
her grandparents allowed her to stop working and indulge her one true passion.
She might never write the great American novel, but at least she would die writing
something with a little more substance than the society column of the New York
Chronicle.

"Mother, I don't do that anymore, remember? Can't you send Chuck or Lisa?"
Katherine said.

"They have their own assignments, darling. Besides, you need to get out, and
I need you to do this for me." She said. "Katherine," she continued in her best
'don't hurt your mother' tone, "I seldom ask you for anything. Can't you indulge
me this once?"

"Mother, you ask all the time," Katherine responded. Katherines mother
let the silence hang in the air between them until Katherine finally moaned. "Oh,
all right, I'll do it one more time. But please, Mother, put me on your 'do not
call' list if something like this ever comes up again."

Mrs. Grant laughed. "All right, darling. I'll leave two tickets at the box
office. Feel free to bring a guest. You'll be the only one in the box seats that
night. The concert starts at nine. Oh, by the way, there'll be a backstage pass
as well and an invitation to the after party. Ciao, sweet one, I love you."

Katherine sat at the center counter in her kitchen nursing a Bloody Mary. The
throbbing in her head was diminishing a little. Memories of the night before tumbled
through her brain .... Alex, the almost fight with Tex, meeting Laurel, the fiasco
with Jade. It had been quite an evening.

'I'll have to send Jade some flowers,' she thought. 'God, why do I treat her
like that? She's not a bad kid. She deserves better.'

Her alter ego responded. 'You know why you do that. You're not punishing her;
you're punishing yourself. Don't worry about Jade, she helped you write that little
scenario you two participated in last night, you know. It went both ways.'

Katherine sighed and poured a cup of black coffee. She shook two aspirins out
of the bottle on the counter and washed them down with the hot coffee, tasting
the bitterness of the pills as they melted in her mouth. She finished the coffee,
rinsed the cup, and placed it in the dishwasher, and then she headed back down
to her bedroom to get dressed for the day.

As Katherine entered the bedroom, she became aware of the mess it was in. She
had a penchant for being a neat freak, but her bed looked like a world war had
been fought in it, and her clothes from the night before were strewn all over
the room. She remembered coming home and sitting in front of the fireplace nursing
her frustrations with a bottle of Jack Daniels, but she didn't remember going
to bed.

'This has got to stop,' she thought as she began to straighten up the room.

She picked up the long, black coat she had worn the night before. A small piece
of napkin fluttered to the floor. She picked it up and noticed the writing. 'Laurel.
555-6988.' She realized Laurel must have stuck it in her coat pocket as they waited
for the cab.

'Oh, God,' Katherine thought, 'Can I call you? Should I call you. Jesus, I
don't know.' She took the napkin and placed it in her jewelry box then continued
straightening the room.

Katherine dressed, walked out into the living room, and sat at her writing
desk. She stared at the phone sitting on the desk and willed her hand to pick
it up and dial the number she had found on the napkin on the floor.

'I can't,' Katherine thought. 'I can't go through that again. No commitment;
no relationship. I cannot do it. I just can't.'

She pushed past demons from her mind and stared at a long, yellow legal pad
on the desk in front of her. She picked up her pen and began to write. 'Laurel
looked up into the dark eyes above her, drinking in the hunger there.' She looked
at what she had written and, realizing her mistake, quickly crossed out the word
Laurel, and substituted 'Lydia.'

*~*

Lydia looked up into the dark eyes above her, drinking in the love and hunger
there. She knew she could forgive this woman anything. She felt herself pushing
against the taller woman's hand as it rested against her pubic mound, long fingers
curved inside, using just the right amount of movement and pressure against that
button that would soon unleash unbearable ecstasy. The water from the shower washed
over them both. Lydia felt the rising tide of release, and her legs began to buckle.

"Oh god, yes! Gina!" she screamed as her vagina began to contract around her
lovers fingers and the burning heat of an orgasm raged through her.

Regina felt her partner start to slip and held her up, pushing her back against
the shower wall. She felt the rolling waves of Lydia's orgasm imprisoning her
fingers inside. When it was over, they stood there, under the warm pulsating water,
their bodies molded against each other.

Regina reached behind the smaller woman and turned off the shower. She opened
the shower door and led her partner to their bed. They lay down next to each other,
brown eyes staring into blue, until Lydia broke the contact.

Lydia reached out and stroked her lover's breast, then leaned in to drink the
small tears of water that covered her body. She grabbed Regina by her hair and
pulled her head up until their mouths and tongues met in a lust-filled kiss. The
desire that had been awakened in the shower deepened on the bed as the taller
woman pulled the smaller one on top of her and grasped her buttocks with both
hands.

Lydia's legs lay in between Regina's, their hot and swollen mounds pressed
against each other. Regina reached down between them and used her fingers to open
the lips below so that they were touching clitoris to clitoris. She reached back
again and grasped the smaller woman's buttocks, pulling her in hard against her.
They began to move against each other, slowly at first, then faster and faster
as their passions rose, and they came together in the morning light screaming
each other's name.

*~*

Katherine wrote feverishly, the words flowing in an unusually steady stream.
She reread what she had written and smiled a self-satisfied smile. 'Perhaps the
block is over. There's nothing much worse than a constipated, muse,' she thought.

'Now, now, Katherine, her alter ego chastised. 'Your block has nothing
to do with the muses so quit blaming it on them.'

'Honey, you need my shit all the time. I'm the only thing between you and complete
disaster,' A.E. responded huffily.

Katherine glanced at the clock. 10:30 a.m. 'Should I call her?'

'Oh, for God's sake, call her,' A.E. prodded. 'I'll never get any rest until
you do.'

*~*

Katherine reached for the phone and dialed, her mind fantasizing what she would
say to the woman at the other end. The phone rang and rang and rang. The click
of an answering machine jarred her thoughts.

"Hello, this is Laurel. I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a
message. I'll call you back just as soon as I can." Beep...

"K.G.! Don't hang up!" A breathless Laurel picked up the phone. "Sorry, I was
in the shower. I'm so glad you called."

Katherine laughed throatily. "In the shower, huh? What are you wearing now?"
She teased.

"Nothing," Laurel responded. "Well, nothing but a grin."

"Hmmm. I'd like to see that," Katherine mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Listen, how would you like to go out for lunch? I have to run into
the office for a few minutes but, if you're free, we could meet at the Cloisters
around 12:30."

Laurel was silent. She wanted to go but knew her schedule would not permit
it. "Listen, K.G., I can't do it today. I'm sorry."

"Well, I know it's short notice. Perhaps another time."

"I'd like that very much," Laurel said.

"How about Saturday night? We could have dinner and. "

Laurel interrupted. "Oh, K.G., I can't do that either I'm tied up Saturday
night. It's something I just can't get out of. Another time, perhaps."

Katherine took hope from the disappointed sound in Laurel's voice. "All right.
I'll call you next week, and we'll see if we can coordinate something."

"Why don't you call me Sunday afternoon? I'll be free then, and I'd really
like to see you," Laurel said.

Katherine smiled broadly. "Sunday it is, then," she replied. She hung up the
phone and headed back to her writing desk.

*~*

Regina woke first. Her lover's head was on her shoulder, its weight causing
numbness and tingling in her arm. A hand lay on her breast squeezing in catlike
motions. Soft lips touched her ribs, and the smaller womans breathing sent
tickling puffs of air against Reginas skin.

Regina kissed the top of the tousled blonde head which lay beneath her chin.
"Wake up, sleepyhead," she said. "It's almost noon."

Lydia rolled to the side disentangling her legs from Regina's. She stretched
a long morning stretch and moaned. "I don't want to wake up. Let's stay here all
day," she murmured.

"As tempting as that is, I've got to get to work," Regina responded.

"Gina," Lydia said, "all you ever do is work. You leave before I'm up; you
come back when I'm asleep. I feel like we never see each other any more."

"It won't be long, baby. Just a few more weeks and I'm all yours. I promise,"
the taller woman replied.

'I've heard that before,' Lydia thought. She stood up slowly and reached for
a robe. "I'll meet you in the kitchen," she sighed as she strode from the room.

Regina walked to the kitchen and stood silently in the doorway, watching her
lover fixing a grapefruit. She loved to look at the round of Lydias buttocks.
Regina walked quietly up behind the smaller woman and leaned against her back,
lifting Lydias hair to gain access to her long neck and place a sucking
kiss there.

Lydia turned her head and reached up to grab Gina's hair. She pulled the taller
woman's mouth down to hers, ringing Ginas lips with her tongue, then sucking
Ginas answering tongue into her own mouth.

Regina reached around Lydia and pulled the tie to her robe. She put both arms
around her and slid her hands across Lydia's stomach coming to rest against her
pubic bone. Lydia gasped and turned in her arms.

"You'll never get to work if you keep this up," the smaller woman moaned.

"I don't care," Regina replied. "I want you right now."

Regina's words spread liquid heat between Lydia's thighs. She leaned against
the counter and opened her legs to her impatient lover. She didn't say a word.

Regina opened her own robe. "Ive got a surprise for you, baby,"
she husked as she adjusted her side of the double-d and pushed it more firmly
inside herself. She grabbed Lydia from behind with one hand while she used the
other to guide the dildo into her waiting lover. Regina braced her hands on the
counter on each side of Lydia and moved against her to increase the pressure they
could both feel. Gina began to gyrate slowly against the smaller woman then increased
her tempo as she felt Lydia move in response.

Lydia put her hands on Gina's buttocks and pulled her closer. Each could feel
the fullness and the movement of the other deep inside and the incredible pleasure
of the pressure against their clits. "Oh, God, yes," they cried in unison against
each others mouth, repeating with even more intensity the mutual orgasms they
had experienced earlier in their bed.